The crisis in food price data

• Impacts of food prices on food quantity and availability of nutrients are overstated.
• Studies ignore coping responses along the quality margin.
• Spatially detailed prices and survey data on both the quantity and the quality of foods are needed.
• Surprisingly few developing countries have these required data.

Many studies estimate impacts of higher food prices on consumer welfare. Yet reliable data on real welfare levels in poor countries are rare since surveys prioritize collecting nominal living standards data over price data. Narrower questions about the impacts of prices on food quantity consumed and on the availability of nutrients are poorly answered. Most studies ignore coping responses that involve downgrading food quality to maintain quantity and therefore overstate nutritionally harmful effects of rising prices. A full accounting for the impacts of food prices on food security requires spatially detailed food price data and household survey data on both the quantity and the quality of foods. Surprisingly few developing countries have these required data.